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No Backdown Andrews Tells NFP Sector

Federal Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews has fronted the ACOSS National Conference defending the recent Federal Budget, saying that Australia can deny the current social and economic challenges or face up to them.

Federal Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews has fronted the ACOSS National Conference defending the recent Federal Budget, saying that Australia can deny the current social and economic challenges or face up to them.

Andrews said there was three interrelated challenges facing Australia that explained why the Government had made its decisions, including increasing the retirement age and the changes to Newstart for people aged under 30, in the recent Budget.

He said the first challenge was the national economy facing a major transition as the mining and resources booms moves from a construction phase to a production phase.

He said the second was the ageing population and the third, Australia's shrinking workforce.

Andrews said these were the reasons why the Government planned to raise the retirement age.

"It's also why we have looked at young people, those under 30s that if you are not in a job you should be training to get a job," he said.

"In the context of ageing population and shrinking workforce… it makes sense to say to young people, if you are not in a job you should be in training…

"We can deny the challenges if we like or we can face them."

Andrews said the three challenges were also why the Government was reviewing the welfare system.

He explained that one model that he was looking very closely at was New Zealand's welfare system model, which was based on a social investment model.

He said this preferred model would allow the Government to look at the empirical data upfront, make appropriate decisions and working on a "trajectory towards employment over a trajectory towards welfare".

"It's why I am attracted to it, give us better information and enables us to do a better job for the young people of Australia," he said.

Andrews told the audience of leaders and frontline workers in the Not for Profit sector that he had received the discussion paper into the Government’s review of the welfare system but he would not be releasing it until the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott returned to Australia.

However he said the full report would not be released until September or October.

He said as part of the Government's new approach to the welfare system, the Government was planning to increase the single contracts between community services and the Department of Social Services to five-year agreements opposed to one or two years.

As part of that plan, Andrews said he would be setting up an expert panel, drawn on from scholars and practitioners to investigate how the Government can place much more emphasis on intervention.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten followed Minister Andrew's speech telling the delegates to the ACOSS National Conference that the Federal Budget was a national embarrassment.

"It is a national disgrace to fairness," Shorten said.

"Labor and I reject the cynicism that divides Australia into the so-called lifters: successful businessmen, Coalition Ministers, conservative media commentators, and the leaners: the disabled, the disabled pensioners, the people going to the doctor, the fixed-income pensioners and families with children between six and 16 receiving modest payments,” he told the Conference.

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One Comment

I do hope that Minister Andrews has also looked into the creation of jobs or training for people under 30 when cutting benefits and support. In regional Victoria, there is little work for people under or over 30. With multiple TAFE courses closing all over the state, there is also very few 'training' courses. In addition to the rise in Uni fees and open fee policy to come, I have heard very little from the Liberal government on how they intend for people to up-skill or gain a job with little to no resources to do so. I keep hearing 'it's time for the years of entitlement to be over'. Working for a community service agency, I can tell the Liberal government that there are many people in my regional town that do not feel very entitled, just despondent at the lack of jobs, housing and support from the government. It is a shame that many of these politicians have enjoyed 'years of entitlement' themselves and have never dealt with the issues that many average Australians face today. SHAME on them and SHAME on the people with the lack of foresight in believing that a Liberal government would be a better choice. Lucky there appears to be more money given to the Mental Health areas as I believe a rise in depression is on the cards. I know I'm already depressed.